Learning to drive as an adult is humiliating because everyone knows how to drive, and frustrating because no one knows how to drive properly

Last year, at the age of 35, I decided it was time to grow up and get my driver’s licence.

I had considered it before, but it had never stuck. As a teenager, I thought driving was scary and significantly less cool than sitting on the bus, listening to the same eight songs on my MP3 player. As a news reporter in my 20s, not driving was inconvenient to both me and my editors, but so was spending days off learning how to parallel park.

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Étienne Davignon, 93, was last living person targeted in investigation into assassination of DRC’s first PM, Patrice Lumumba

A 93-year-old Belgian former diplomat who became the first person to be charged in the murder of the Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba has died before he could stand trial.

The death of Étienne Davignon, an aristocrat who served as a European commissioner during a decades-long career as one of Belgium’s leading diplomats and industrialists, was confirmed by the Jacques Delors Institute thinktank, where he had served on the board.

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The Gunners seemingly have the easier end-of-season schedule, but Manchester City are clinging to hope that anything can happen

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The title race should be done. All logic says it’s already over. Arsenal lead Manchester City by two points which means two wins in their final two games of the season would seal the title – and those two games are tonight against Burnley, who have been relegated, and, on Sunday against Crystal Palace, who will be preparing for the Europa Conference League final three days later. It’s hard, frankly, to imagine a better pair of fixtures for Mikel Arteta’s side to play at this stage of the season.

City’s games appear harder. On Tuesday they play away at Bournemouth, who are still fighting for Champions League qualification, whether by claiming fifth above Liverpool, or by taking sixth and hoping Villa win the Europa League but finish fifth. (It makes little sense but, under Uefa regulations, if Villa finish fourth and win the Europa League, there would be no sixth Champions League slot for Premier League clubs.) Man City finish at home against Aston Villa, who will just have returned from Istanbul and a Europa League final.

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Deep-rooted problems of food inequality are hidden behind area’s affluence and beauty

• Rural Britain is becoming ‘food desert’ for lower-income families, study finds

What does a “food desert” look like? In the case of the modestly affluent Cotswolds village of Kempsford, very pretty. When I visit the sun is shining from cloudless blue skies on to lovely honey-coloured stone houses, some draped in purple wisteria.

Aside from the loud hum of US air force planes revving up at the nearby Fairford airbase it’s a picture of rural calm. There’s a primary school and a pub. A house on the main street is called “The Old Bakery”. But there is no shop selling food for miles.

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Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, says any US strike would be catastrophic after reports of 300+ drones

Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, has warned that any US military action against his country would lead to a “bloodbath” with incalculable consequences for regional peace and stability.

“Cuba does not represent a threat,” Díaz-Canel said in a post on X.

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The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

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Beastie Boys

De druk op minister-president Jetten neemt toe om duidelijker stelling te nemen in het asieldebat – vooral na gewelddadigheden rond opvanglocaties en omstreden uitspraken van Kamerleden. Critici vragen zich af of de nationale regie niet ondergesneeuwd raakt in een overvolle wereldagenda.

Dinsdag begint de Eerste Kamer aan de behandeling van de wet die het belasten van vermogens moet regelen. Economen proberen de senatoren nog éénmaal te verleiden tot een principieel debat: belasten we vermogenswinst of toch liever vermogensaanwas?

Franse snelwegen zijn uitgegroeid tot een groot openluchtmuseum met borden van kunstenaars die de culturele rijkdom van het land tonen – nu ook met podcasts.

ROTTERDAM (ANP) - De bemanning van het Nederlandse cruiseschip Hondius gaat de komende uren in kleine groepjes van boord. Volgens een woordvoerster van de GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond zijn ze nu nog op het schip, dat maandagochtend aanmeerde in de haven van Rotterdam.

De opvarenden gaan in groepjes aan wal en worden dan direct getest op het hantavirus. Daarna gaan ze in quarantaine. In de haven staan 23 portakabins, waar de meeste bemanning in afzondering zal verblijven. Twee Nederlandse bemanningsleden gaan thuis in quarantaine. Een arts en verpleegkundige die aan boord waren, hadden zich beschermd en hoeven zich niet af te zonderen. Zij zijn inmiddels van het schip.

Het proces van testen kan enkele uren duren, zegt de woordvoerster. Het lichaam van de overleden Duitse vrouw dat nog op het schip is, wordt volgens haar in de avond weggehaald. Dit gebeurt door een gespecialiseerde begrafenisondernemer, die het lichaam overbrengt naar een crematorium in de buurt van Schiphol.

ROTTERDAM (ANP) - Een groep techkenners heeft in de rechtbank het belang van transparantie benadrukt bij de besluitvorming rond de beoogde overname van Solvinity, het bedrijf dat ervoor zorgt dat DigiD kan draaien. "De beoordeling van het grote publieke belang dat is gemoeid met deze zaak, past niet in een achterkamertje van het ministerie van Economische Zaken", zei een advocaat namens de groep journalisten, techexperts en wetenschappers die via de rechter proberen de overname van Solvinity door een Amerikaans bedrijf tegen te houden.

"Het is nogal cynisch dat het ministerie de overname door Kyndryl bedrijfsvertrouwelijk en sensitief wil behandelen, terwijl vaststaat dat de vertrouwelijkheid van de meest gevoelige en delicate persoonsgegevens van alle Nederlandse burgers op het spel staat", aldus de advocaten van de groep critici.

Onder de groep prominente tegenstanders zijn Eric Smit, Joris Luyendijk, Sander Schimmelpenninck en Maxim Februari. Ook de stichtingen Privacy First en The Firewall doen mee.

SCHIPHOL (ANP) - De rijen bij Schiphol voor de security blijven maandag verder toenemen. Dat gebeurt op de dag dat de opzet van de beveiliging op de luchthaven is aangepast. Bij meerdere vertrekhallen staan mensen tot ver achter de incheckbalies te wachten.

Bij vertrekhal 3 is de rij richting de security zo lang dat mensen tussen de incheckbalies en daaromheen in een rij staan die alsmaar langer wordt. Bij vertrekhal 1 en 2 worden reizigers tegengehouden voor de poortjes, waardoor er in de vertrekhallen voor de incheckbalies ook rijen ontstaan.

Schiphol werkt sinds maandag niet meer met vijf maar met drie beveiligingsbedrijven, met wie nieuwe bedrijven zijn opgericht waarin Schiphol ook een belang heeft. Door de nieuwe opzet zijn veel van de bijna 5000 beveiligers overgegaan naar een nieuwe werkgever. De werkwijze is gekozen om Schiphol meer grip te geven op de beveiliging, ook om chaos met lange rijen tot buiten de vertrekhallen zoals in de zomer van 2022 te voorkomen.

LONDEN (ANP) - De chauffeur van een vrachtwagen met daarin voor omgerekend 8 miljoen euro aan cocaïne, is in het Verenigd Koninkrijk veroordeeld tot dertien jaar en zes maanden cel. Dat meldt de National Crime Agency (NCA), het Britse agentschap dat zich bezighoudt met georganiseerde misdaad.

Naast een lading kleding en ondergoed van Kim Kardashians kledingmerk Skims, had het laadruim een verborgen ruimte waarin de verdovende middelen waren verstopt. Het voertuig werd in september staande gehouden in Essex, nadat het was aangekomen vanuit Hoek van Holland.

Volgens de NCA komt het vaker voor dat chauffeurs als de Pool in kwestie worden gebruikt om grote ladingen drugs te vervoeren, vaak te midden van anderszins 'legitieme' ladingen. Noch de importeur noch de exporteur van de reguliere lading wordt in verband gebracht met de smokkelpoging. De Poolse chauffeur heeft bekend 4500 euro te hebben gekregen om de drugs naar Engeland te brengen.

I have always liked Steve Kerr, but I did not expect to read this whole 15,000-word profile of him at ESPN. Really interesting throughout.

The AI industry is copying techniques used by tobacco firms, big pharma and oil companies to influence governmental policy and regulation of itself, according to an academic study. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Trinity College Dublin, Delft University of Technology, and Carnegie Mellon University claim they identified patterns of "corporate capture" by which regulations and public bodies come to act in the interest of industry rather than the citizens they are meant to protect. Their paper, “Big AI’s Regulatory Capture: Mapping Industry Interference and Government Complicity,” details various mechanisms of capture and how these work. The most frequent include what the researchers identify as Discourse & Epistemic influence (D&EI), Elusion of law, or Direct influence on policy. For evidence, the researchers analyzed 100 news stories covering four global AI events between 2023 and 2025; the EU AI Act negotiations, and the global AI summits held in the UK, South Korea, and France. They report finding numerous cases fitting capture patterns. One of the most prevalent here was “narrative capture,” which is when an industry or company attempts to steer discussion in a direction that benefits them, and influences the position or decisions of public officials and official regulations. As an example, it cites how the European Commission has uncritically followed the industry’s call to "simplify” the AI Act (alongside other digital regulation) even before it has been fully implemented. Earlier this month, The Register reported how enforcement of the rules was delayed, while the rules themselves were cut back after months of angry complaints from AI companies. Narratives deployed emphasized how "regulation stifles innovation" and centered on "red tape," where regulation is portrayed as unnecessary or excessive, setting the stage for later calls explicitly advocating for "deregulation." The researchers found that "elusion of law" (using legal loopholes) is the most recurring after narrative-framing activity. This may comprise violations, such as disregarding existing laws, or contentious interpretations of laws governing areas including antitrust, privacy, copyright and labor laws. Reg readers will be familiar with AI developers' efforts to exempt themselves from copyright laws, for example, by arguing that requiring permission or payment for training data would stifle progress or even destroy the industry entirely. This position has been championed by the Tony Blair Institute and by the UK’s former deputy PM and erstwhile Meta apologist Sir Nick Clegg, who now works for neocloud biz Nscale. The study also identified lobbying and "Revolving Door" as common tools for shaping policy, the latter referring to public officials moving into private sector roles or industry figures securing influential government posts. The UK government’s flagship AI Opportunities Action Plan - for example - was authored by entrepreneur Matt Clifford, who it turns out happens to have financial interests in nearly 500 tech firms, including a number involved with AI. The paper concludes that while it is only right that government regulators attend to the concerns of industry, regulation should always prioritize protecting and promoting the core public values for which governments bear responsibility. It warns that the AI industry’s power, wealth and influence have "far-reaching implications" in terms of impact on the rule of law, the labor market, the environment, knowledge production, and, ultimately, on the functioning of democracy itself. The level of power held by the AI industry is "so corrosive" that policymakers ought to treat it as an emergency, the paper says. Government complicity is detrimental to ensuring the rule of law and to restoring trust in public interest technologies, it points out. ®

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that “the criteria that now define Eurovision contestants... are honestly nothing short of outright Satanism.”

International Museum Day has been celebrated for over 40 years, created to honor the vital role museums play in our communities as spaces for cultural exchange, education, and building understanding between people. Each year, more museums around the world join in the celebration.

We know it might be difficult to get to your local museum for a quick field trip which is why we’re sharing some ways to celebrate the day virtually. Museums worldwide choose Flickr as a place to make their digital collections available to be enjoyed by the public, for free. Here are a few great places to get started but don’t stop there. You’ll find hundreds of other museums on Flickr so spend some time today learning something new!

 

National Science and Media Museum

Located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England

At the National Science and Media Museum, in the heart of Bradford, we explore the science and culture of image and sound technologies and their impact on our lives.

Visit them on their Flickr site or if you are in the area, plan a visit!

National Museum of Denmark

Located in Copenhagen, Denmark

History is best when we share it. Discover what connects us and what continues to amaze us, as you explore past and present, from everyday life to love and loss.

Visit them on their Flickr site or if you are in the area, plan a visit!

Museum of Photographic Arts

The Museum of Photographic Arts is located at The San Diego Museum of Art in San Diego, California, USA

Inspire, Educate, Cultivate. The San Diego Museum of Art’s mission is to inspire, educate, and cultivate curiosity through great works of art.

Visit them on their Flickr site or if you are in the area, plan a visit!

Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons

Located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Our community-centred approach and our commitment to reflecting the world around us deepen the sense of belonging for our communities. As the heart of our community, our dynamic energy is the spark for curiosity, compassion and connection.

Visit them on their Flickr site or if you are in the area, plan a visit!

Smithsonian Institution

Located in Washington, DC, USA

Through our unparalleled collections and research capabilities, and the insight and creativity we foster through art, history, and culture, the Smithsonian strives to provide Americans and the world with the tools and information they need to forge Our Shared Future.

Visit them on their Flickr site or if you are in the area, plan a visit!

Happy International Museum Day!